About Milk Bar

Milk Bar Mag is an independent guide to the best of Melbourne. We specialise in covering everything from restaurants and bars to architecture and design, Milk Bar Mag is your cultural and creative guide to the city.

Let Milk Bar Mag inspire, challenge and provoke your mind.

 

Founder – Dan Kuseta
Dan grew up in the outer eastern suburbs, and has been moving closer to the heart of Melbourne ever since. After working as a writer and editor in Toronto, Dan’s happy to be home and running his own Milk Bar, just like his grandparents did. Fascinated, engaged and excited by the creative culture of Melbourne, Dan launched the Milk Bar to capture the stories and spirit of the best city in the world.

Editor-in-Chief – Ross Battaglia
Unable to say no to two things: cinema and pop culture. Ross keeps busy from 9 to 5 working in the publishing industry, with a keen interest in learning German and hiking on the weekends. He can be spotted cycling through the inner burbs, enjoying a bev at a local pub, or partaking in delightful debauchery. A long-term aspiration would to be quoted in Forbes as a ‘media mogul’.

CONTRIBUTORS

Lachlan Baynes 
A born and bred Melbournian and a budding writer with a love for film and food, Lachlan loves to explore everything the city has to offer, but mostly film and food. After completing his degree with a Major in Screen and Cultural Studies, Lachlan can now be found either hunched over his keyboard or on set where he works freelance as a Production Assistant.

Jessica Morris
Rower, runner, writer and all round ridiculously busy individual who somehow appears to have more than 24 hours in a day. Jess studied Media & Communications, and majored in Cultural Studies/Philosophy to see how she could make a stunning impact on the world with her words. Has somehow ended up in events because of her big ideas, vivid imagination and supreme ability to organise both herself and others, but continues to dabble in journalism and is always eager to see how her writing can make a difference to someone’s day.

Penelope Stephens
Penelope is a post-grad journalism/media student based in Melbourne.  She has a passion for literature, art, fashion, film, anime, ballet and food. Penelope loves to travel and has been to 12 different countries so far, with Germany and China being her favourite. When she isn’t writing or dancing, find her working on her online retro clothing store www.bluesodastore.com.

Christine Fotis
Christine Fotis is a Melbourne-based writer and project manager who works in the publishing industry. Her poetry has been printed in publications such as The Great American Poetry Show Volume 2, Page Seventeen and Litmus Magazine. In her spare time she enjoys nature hikes and checking out the local music scene. Christine’s currently branching out into non-fiction writing, and is working on a blog about all the amazing natural wonders she travels to in Victoria.

Louise Wong
Originally from Malaysia but having spent the second decade of her life in New Zealand, Louise is a fairly fresh Melburnian. When she’s not at her 9 to 5 job, she dedicates the rest of her time to looking at menus, researching makeup and skincare, and watching YouTube videos. Louise is fiercely protective of Malaysian food, and won’t listen to anyone who tells her that laksa isn’t amazing.

Amanda Louey 
Amanda’s world is one filled with words. She reads them, she edits them and on occasion, she is even known to write them. As an Editor, she enjoys dabbling on the other side as a writer for Milk Bar Mag, particularly when it comes packaged with food, film or fairy tale. For her, Melbourne is a culturally rich city full of magical secrets in its nooks and crannies. One only has to seek them out.

Penelope Stephens
Penelope is a post-grad journalism/media student based in Melbourne.  She has a passion for literature, art, fashion, film, anime, ballet and food. Penelope loves to travel and has been to 12 different countries so far, with Germany and China being her favourite. When she isn’t writing or dancing, find her working on her online retro clothing store www.bluesodastore.com.

Eloise Roche
Eloise hails from the sleepy coastal town of Jan Juc. Residing in the inner-north of Melbourne for the last seven years, she now thinks it’s fair to call herself a Melbournian. Eloise works in communications for a non-profit and enjoys red wine, Seinfeld and ranting about feminism and politics.

Morgan Begg 
Born and bred on the beaches of Byron Bay, Morgan migrated south to Melbourne in 2010 and has since been pursuing her love of the written word. When she’s not writing, her time is spent seeing live music, exploring regional Victoria, and drinking Aperol Spritz’s in the sun. She is currently working on a collection of short stories (but she has no idea if she’ll ever get it finished).

Michael Zubreckyj
Hailing from the mean streets of suburban Adelaide, Michael packed up and moved to Melbourne to complete a Journalism degree that has yet to bear any fruit. Just another middle-class white guy who thinks he’s got something to say.

Eleanor Campbell 
Born and raised on the border of New South Wales and Victoria, Eleanor moved to Melbourne to make the change to city life three years ago. Studying a bachelor of Media and Communications, majoring in Journalism, Eleanor is still trying to figure out exactly where life is going to take her once she finishes her degree.

Joana Simmons
New Zealand born Joana Simmons, a lover of language and live entertainment, moved to Melbourne to study dance and musical theatre at Jason Coleman’s Ministry of Dance in 2010. Working in multiple facets within the entertainment industry, both in performer and production roles, it became clear Joana needed to combine her witty writing with her powerhouse physical performance and make her own solo comedy cabaret shows, which have been at Melbourne and New Zealand Fringe Festivals, The Village Festival, and sold out The Butterfly Club. Joana also teaches yoga and dance workshops and performs under the pseudonym, Banana Jolie. An artist with her fingers in many pies — reviewing and writing for Milk Bar magazine has become another way to blend these skills together.